Trump Hurting Insurance Markets

NBC News reported that health care premiums will spike, insurers will exit the market, and deficits will increase if Trump follows through on his reckless threats to cut off reimbursements to insurance companies providing coverage for low and middle class citizens, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report. Trump has said for months he is considering cutting off the cost-sharing reduction payments, which reimburse insurers for lowering out-of-pocket costs for customers.

Insurers have warned for months that cutting off the cost-sharing reduction payments would prompt them to raise premiums or stop offering plans entirely on state exchanges.

“The cost of a “silver” insurance plan would be 20 percent higher in 2018 and 25 percent higher by 2020 compared to current law, according to the report. About five percent of the population would not be able to buy insurance through Obamacare at all next year, the CBO predicted, because companies would withdraw plans in response to the “substantial uncertainty” created by the move. The markets would stabilize in future years, however, as insurers adjusted to the new policy.”